To Glen Patrick Miller:
 
You don't say how old Morgan is, but if she 5 months or older, she may be
in season.  Generally, the vagina swells up many times its normal size and
the ferret may have a stronger musky scent as well.  Unless you plan to
breed (and breeding ferrets is hard!), I would suggest that you have her
spayed ASAP.
 
A female ferret in season that is not bred, will develop aplastic anemia.
Ferrets generally do not come out of season on their own - they either need
to be bred, spayed, or given a hormone injection to bring them out.  If they
are left in season w/out intervention, eventually the hormones will cause
a decrease in red blood cell production in the bone marrow, the ferret will
develop aplastic anemia, and may very well die.
 
Since it seems that your experience with unspayed females appears to be
limited, I would strongly suggest that you have her spayed.  If you feel
that you would like to breed at some future point, start reading all you
can about breeding NOW, get in touch w/some experienced breeders and talk
to them in detail, speak w/a knowledgeable veterinarina about medical
problems and treatment (although a good breeder should have knowledge of this
as well, it's important to touch base w/a good vet also).  After all that,
you may find that breeding ferrets is not for you anyway.
 
If Morgan is under 1 year of age, my feelings are that she is too young to
breed.  Too young new mothers often don't make good mothers - do you have
a pedigree?  You wouldn't want to breed her to a relative - and do you have
a whole hob available anyway?
 
I'm not trying to pick on you or anything like that - you didn't elaborate
and I just want to be sure you have the whole picture.  One more thing, if
you go w/the hormone injection to bring her out of season, that is only
a temporary solution.  In many cases, they will come right back into season
w/in a month or so, and I don't recommend the hormone inj that frequently
at all!
 
There are other conditions that might cause a swelling of the vagina; in
any case, it sounds like a trip to the vet is warranted.
 
Debbie Riccio
WNYFLFA
[Posted in FML issue 1173]